No matter where you are in your business endeavors, we highly encourage you to utilize the wonderful tool that is email marketing. Today we are going to have a crash course on email marketing. We are going to cover why it’s so important in terms of serving your audience, what platform ComePlum uses and recommends and then dig deep into the nitty gritty of forms, workflows, segments, reviewing data and more.

If you are weary or hesitant about diving into the world of email marketing just know you are not alone. However, here is a fun fact for you: email marketing is nearly 4x more effective at audience engagement than social media and using this avenue as well as social media will serve your audience better.

So, without further ado, if you are ready to up your email marketing game, this is the blog post for you, sis. Gone are the days of sitting for 3 hours trying to send out a single email #byeFelicia. We are going to break down some really rich information that I wish I would have known before I ever got started with email marketing.

 

The importance of email marketing

Emails are the most effective form of communication to tell your audience about what you have to say. 85% of adult internet users in the US are on email. That beats out search engines by 15% and social media by 22%. That’s some pretty powerful stuff, sis.

 

While social media platforms are still effective, they are constantly changing their algorithms, which can be difficult to compete with. We definitely aren’t saying that you need to choose one over the other. However, when you use both of them, you are better serving your audience.

Remember what you own

We don’t own our followers on Instagram
We don’t own our fans on Facebook
but…
We do own our emails and email lists/subscribers

 

Time for a quick recap

• Email marketing is wildly more successful than posting on social media
• Email marketing is a more steady form of communication with your audience that won’t change overnight due to a new algorithm
• Remember what you do and don’t own

 

Flodesk 101

Flodesk is an extraordinary platform that allows it’s users (at any stage in the game) to create really stunning, high-converting emails that their audiences will love. This platform is a women founded business created by Martha Bitar and Rebecca Shostak who are two go-getter women that we absolutely adore here at ComePlum. We are going to chat about what Flodesk has to offer, how you can use it to better expand your business and grow your audience, and why we think the world of it.

If you’d like to try Flodesk for 50% off, you can do so by signing up on this link.

 

Forms

We need to find a way to get people onto your email list so that you can send out those gorgeous emails and give your audience a chance to hear what you have to share.

Forms are important because they are how you get people to subscribe to your email list. We can’t send our audience emails if they don’t opt into our list–that’s against the law (CAN-SPAM Act) and we don’t want to be spammy.

Forms can either be a landing page, an inline footer, or a popup where your audience can enter their email address to join your list. In both of those instances, you give away a freebie; which is a fantastic way to build up an audience. Giving away a freebie, gives your audience a little taste of what you offer. This is where they sign up to keep coming back for more. In Flodesk, you can choose which type of form you would like to create on forms page here.

Types of forms you can select where your audience can join your email list:

• Popup: a window that pops up on your website
• Inline: a form that serves as a footer on your website
• Landing page: a page on your website dedicated to growing your email list

When creating a form, it’s important to use an engaging title. Using a title that grabs people’s attention will help you better connect with your audience. Then you want to use a 2-3 sentence descriptor of what they will get. There is then the option for subscribers to leave their name and email address.

What’s great about creating forms on Flodesk is that you can customize it. There is the option to choose whether or not you’d like to enable double opt-in for your forms or if you’d like to be notified when you gain a new subscriber. They also give the option for you to decide which action you’d like to take place after the subscriber joins your list. It’s also customizable in terms of staying true your brand. You have the option to choose from a wide variety of fonts as well as your own specific colors. Not trying to throw shade here, but other email marketing platforms don’t hold a candle to the aesthetics that Flodesk offers. You will then have the option to select which segment you’d like to add subscribers from that form to. We will talk more about segments in a little bit, so stay tuned.

Note: You can still use Flodesk even if you don’t have a website yet but would still like to grow your email subscriber list. With websites like bit.ly you can still use the URL from the published form so that people can still join your list. A third-party website like this also allows you to customize the link in order to keep on brand with your business without having a website of your own yet.

Once you are finished building your form go ahead and publish it. After you publish it, you will get a couple codes that you can use directly on your website. How and where you use these codes depends on what the backend of your website is set up like.

 

Workflows

An email workflow is a series of automated emails that is triggered once a specific action happens. You can create workflows for anything you’d like. For example, you can create a workflow for when a subscriber grabs your freebie. Since that subscriber joins your email list through that landing page, they are added to a specific segment assigned to subscribers who join via that form.

This is when the workflow begins. Flodesk will automatically send the subscriber in that segment an email that you have connected to that workflow. In this example, subscribers automatically receive the email with the freebie in it. Once the initial email is sent, you can then create specific “rules” for how to automate sending out any subsequent emails that you would like the subscribers in that segment to receive.

These rules could be:

• After the first email was received, waiting X amount of time until sending the next email out
• Conditions based (If-then statements)
  • If: the subscriber clicked the Instagram link
  • Then: we know they show interest in social media as well
  • Result: Customize your workflow to send them an email about the e-book “How To Be Your Own Instagram Husband”

In your Flodesk account, you can view all of your existing workflows or create new ones on the “Workflows” page of Flodesk here.

A specific example of an email marketing workflow for ComePlum might look like:

• A subscriber opts into our email list through a popup form with free chapter from our e-book
• The subscriber is immediately are added to our email subscriber list
• We automatically send the free chapter from our e-book right away via email automation
• Wait 1 day after the subscriber opened the email then send the next email
• Next email is about reintroducing Praise the founder and Lead Photographer behind ComePlum with a CTA included

 

There are truly so many options for what to do with your workflows. Once you are done creating a workflow, select the “Publish Now” button to set things in motion.

 

 

Segments + Subscribers

Once you begin gaining subscribers, you’ll want to organize them by using segments. Segments are essentially specific audiences within your email list. Utilizing segments will allow you to send specific emails to specific subscribers who are on your list.

This allows you to really hone in on your niche audience and make them feel like “Wow! You really know me. I am seen and I am known.” This way you can control where emails are sent without your entire list receiving every email. You also have the freedom to assign a subscriber to multiple segments, if you so choose.

In Flodesk, you automatically have a segment called “All Subscribers.” However, you aren’t limited to just this segment. You have the ability to add segments and customize which subscribers you would in each. Depending on the copy in any email that you draft up, that email might apply to all subscribers on your list. But sometimes that is not the case. Occasionally, you’ll have an email that only needs to go out to a specific group of people. You can categorize those people into their own special segment so that you can send out certain emails that only their eyes will see. Not your entire subscriber list.

Some things to remember about segments + subscribers:

• Any given subscriber could be in one or multiple segments
• If a subscriber is in multiple segments and you send an email to the segments they are in, they will only receive one email
• Not all of your emails will be applicable to all of your subscribers
• It’s okay if you don’t have a large email list so long as you are segmenting them correctly

 

Templates

AKA how to get those gorgeous, aesthetically pleasing emails effortlessly. Let’s start out by pointing out the fact that one of the co-founders of Flodesk used to be the graphic designer for Rihanna. This explains why Flodesk has such beautiful templates. Emails are most engaging when they are beautiful and Flodesk’s templates makes that really, really easy.

Flodesk offers different vibes of templates depending on what your goal is (i.e. welcome email/thank you/making a sale/quiz your audience/etc.). You can peep all of them in one overall category by selecting “Browse all” or you can get more specific and choose a different option to view. We also love that you have the ability to favorite different templates and Flodesk will automatically create a section for the templates you love most of all. Or if you already have your own vision for what you want, you can simply choose the option to start from scratch.

If you are brand-spankin’-new to email marketing, we suggest that you pair the #UpMyEmailGame templates with a workflow of your choosing and you are going to be off to such a killer start. It’s so fun and easy and it’s the perfect place to start.

Go ahead and select one of the templates that stands out to you to see what it will look like on both a desktop and phone. If you like the look of it, go ahead and move forward with customization. Easily customize the templates they have provided so that you can create stunning emails that are true to your brand in a concise and convenient way. Here is where you can upload your own images, change the layout, use a font color that is specific to your brand, etc. into the template that you chose. Templates are where your email comes to life. Add buttons to direct your audience to your website. Show a grid of your IG account. Incorporate your logo into the email. Add an additional layout.

We hope by now that you are seeing that Flodesk offers a wide range of possibilities at every turn. However, when you find a template that you really like, feel free to keep on using it over and over! Simply duplicate your previous email and use that as a template for future emails.

 

Extra tips + tricks

• Use the same order in your emails. For example:
  • Logo first
  • Followed by the subject line
  • Then some photos
  • After that, add a quote
  • Then write the body of your email
  • Wrap it up with links to your social media
• Keep track of your analytics
  • Utilize the links in your emails and figure out what is converting
• Send out test emails before sending it out to your subscribers
• Find most effective time to send out emails and automate them in advance
• Check the insights and click through rates within Flodesk to verify if your email was effective

 

 

Give Flodesk a try for 50% off

Interested in trying Flodesk for yourself? We think you’ll love it. You can try Flodesk for half the price with this link.

 

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Our friends at the Rising Tide also published a really stellar article explaining why the email funnel is your bestie when it comes to passive income.
Click here to find out how to craft one that sells for you automatically.

ComePlum is a photography studio in SF that supports go-getter women who want to empower the world. Our heart to build others up and see them thrive. This is why we provide useful resources that will help others succeed. You can binge on some more of our blog posts with juicy, good content here.